Mediterranean Delicacies | Simply Delicious

Chicken liver Pâté with caramelised onions and easy melba toast

I could eat chicken liver pâté day in and day out. I know there are a lot of people who don’t eat chicken livers but they have no idea what they are missing out on. There is nothing like hot toast topped with a generous smear of chicken liver pâté! When I saw that Mediterranean Delicacies has a chicken liver pâté in their range I wasn’t too excited about it. After all, my mom used to make the best chicken liver pâté I’ve ever tasted and I am lucky enough to have her recipe. Generally shop-bought chicken liver pâté leaves much to be desired and never seems to get it quite right. The one thing I always look for with shop-bought chicken liver pâté is whether the pâté has a lovely pinkish colour along with the…

21 Feb 2012 | Chicken, Recipes, Salads & Starters 3 Comments

Potato rosti with Taramosalata, chilli & mint

These potato rostis topped with taramosalata are the perfect snack, canapé or starter. I love how the crispy rosti work so well with the smooth and delicately flavoured taramosalata, spicy chilli and cooling mint. The rostis are surprisingly easy to make and require all of 4 ingredients. They also cook really quickly because of their size so if you have to feed a crowd, simply get two frying pans nice and hot and you can cook double the amount of rostis in half the time. I didn’t use a specific recipe so I’m just going to walk you through the process. For every 2, large potatoes, you will need half a red onion and 2 tablespoons of flour. Simply grate the potatoes (I leave the skin on) with the red onion….

12 Feb 2012 | Lunch, Salads & Starters, Snacks 1 Comment

Mediterranean Delicacies : Taramosalata

I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of Taramosalata. When I was about 11 I ate two tubs of the stuff and got so sick that I haven’t been able to handle even the smell of it. I also really didn’t like the luminous pink pastiness of it and this was the one product I was nervous about working with in the Mediterranean Delicacies. That’s until I received it and saw that, in fact, there’s isn’t luminous pink at all. It’s a beautiful, light, almost baby pink. As I opened the tub I was nervous that the smell would bring back those horrible memories again but to my surprise (and delight), the MD Taramosalata is not overly fishy and strong. The flavour is spot on (in my opinion) and quite gentle. I…

09 Feb 2012 | Recipes No Comments

Greek Chicken Bake with Tzatziki

There are few dishes as ‘week-day’ friendly as a good chicken bake. It’s versatile and delicious while not requiring much effort from the cook. Throw everything into a oven-proof pan/dish and allow it to cool away while you get the kids bathed or drink a glass of wine (or both if you’re some of my friends!!). I especially love that anything goes and you can really use this as way to get rid of some of the ingredients in your fridge. Potatoes are always a good idea and you can add bacon, chorizo (or any sausage) and any veg you like. I decided to keep it simple by using free-range chicken thighs with some of Meditteranean Delicacies Calamata-style olives, red onion wedges, dried oregano, lots of garlic and fresh lemon. I…

01 Feb 2012 | Recipes 2 Comments

Mediterranean Delicacies – Tzatziki

I just love tzatziki. My husband always jokes that I would dunk everything and anything in tzatziki if I could…but Chocolate and tzatziki doesn’t seem like such a great combo, does it? Jokes aside, I really do eat it with almost anything and one of my all time favourite meals is lamb chops grilled to medium rare served with toasted pita breads and tzatziki. There is just nothing like lamb served with good tzatziki. The Mediterranean Delicacies tzatziki is thick, rich and packed full of flavour. I love that the cucumber is kept chunky and that the garlic flavour is prominent yet not over-bearing. I was lucky enough to get a 1kg (2.2 pounds) tub (which lasted all of 3 days!). I made a delicious Greek Chicken bake which I…

31 Jan 2012 | Reviews No Comments

Lamb & Hummus burger

I have loved good Hummus for a few years now, even though I was a bit hesitant at first. The pale, creamy ‘paste’ didn’t seem like it would be something I would fall in love with at first taste, but that’s exactly what happened. I started eating it on/with anything and everything to the point that I could not look another bowl of hummus in the face. I hadn’t eaten hummus for about a year until Mediterranean Delicacies sent me a tub of their hummus and I wasn’t too excited to work with it, I have to be honest. I felt uninspired and didn’t know what to do with it, other than use it as a spread or a dip for crudite (which is what I normally used it for). When I…

27 Jan 2012 | Dinner/Supper, Lunch, Meat 2 Comments

Mediterranean Delicacies – Hummus

I have loved good Hummus for a few years now, even though I was a bit hesitant at first. The pale, creamy ‘paste’ didn’t seem like it would be something I would fall in love with at first taste, but that’s exactly what happened. I started eating it on/with anything and everything to the point that I could not look another bowl of hummus in the face. I hadn’t eaten hummus for about a year until Mediterranean Delicacies sent me a tub of their hummus and I wasn’t too excited to work with it, I have to be honest. I felt uninspired and didn’t know what to do with it, other than use it as a spread or a dip for crudite (which is what I normally used it for)….

26 Jan 2012 | Recipes No Comments

Ostrich kebabs with Feta & Herb sauce

When I received a tub of Mediterranean Delicacies’ Feta & Herb dip I knew it would go incredibly well with meat. And even though Ostrich isn’t necessarily ‘meat’ (it does come from a bird after all), it’s still very meaty in flavour, texture and appearance, reminding me of a mix between beef and venison. I know it might not be something that is easily obtainable in other countries but in South Africa we have great ostrich meat and the fact that it’s such a healthy meat alone is enough to get me to eat more of it. However, this recipe can also be made with beef and even lamb. I simply marinaded cubes of ostrich steak in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and fresh rosemary and a splash of Worcestershire sauce for…

20 Jan 2012 | Dinner/Supper, Lunch, Meat No Comments

Chicken Wraps and the beginning of a journey

Here I sit, an hour before my alarm clock is meant to go off. My family are all still snoring and blissfully removed from the anxiety, tension and great excitement I feel for today. You see, today is the first day of school for my babies. Ok, not SCHOOL school…just pre-school. But still. For me, the girl who never thought she had a maternal bone in her body, this day is bigger than any other. I never thought it would be this emotional and I always thought moms who cried when dropping their kids off at school were drama queens. Funny how the wheel turns, isn’t it? I am of course also incredibly happy that they’re going to school because this means that for a few hours each day I…

18 Jan 2012 | Chicken, Dinner/Supper, Lunch 3 Comments

Chicken Escalopes with Olive, Caper & Tomato dressing

Chicken features on our menu at least twice a week and as I’ve said before, after the 100th time of trying to cook it differently, it becomes hard to get creative! Especially during the summer months when being in a hot kitchen is about as appealing as a full body wax (well for me anyway). Knowing I had to develop a recipe using Mediterranean Delicacies’ Calamata Style Olives, I wanted to keep whatever I was going to make fresh, light and perfect for Summer eating. I wanted the olives to have a starring roll and thought the chicken would be the perfect, simple backdrop. This dressing is quite amazing. It is such a pleasure to eat as the salt, almost-bitter olives paired with sharp and vinegary capers and sweet cherry…

13 Jan 2012 | Chicken, Dinner/Supper 3 Comments